The No Boyfriend Rule
by ChasingSunsets
Summary: Tired with having her heart broken, Bella decides on a new plan. The No-Boyfriend Rule. When new kid Edward Cullen arrives, it makes certain new rules hard to keep. Will she be able to resist, or will she start to bend her own rules?
1. The No Boyfriend Rule

Bella sat down heavily on her desk chair and twirled round to look at her two best friends. It had been a long day.

"I've got it," she announced. "I've got the solution to all my problems."

"Really?" Alice asked, leaning forward slightly to rest her chin in her hands. "What is it?"

"Does it pay off debts?" Rose interjected.

"And make dinner?" Alice added.

"And write essays for you?"

"And pick out your outfits?"

"Cause you should really market that."

"Fine," Bella snapped. "Maybe not all my problems. Okay?"

"Oh, thank God." Alice said dramatically. "I thought I was out as fashion coordinator for you."

"You guys," Bella whined, irritated at the lack of interest they were showing in her new idea. "Come on."

"Go on, Bella. We're paying attention. Honest," Alice assured her, glancing at Rosalie for confirmation, who nodded back. "Tell us your plan."

Bella smiled, in spite of herself. "I have come up with..." She paused dramatically. "The No-Boyfriend Rule."

There was a moment of silence before Rose asked, "Um, what?"

"The No-Boyfriend Rule," Bella repeated. "The NBR. No more boyfriends for me."

"Like...ever?"

"Not for the foreseeable future," Bella clarified.

"But..." Alice started, with a puzzled expression. "Why?"

Bella sighed. She should have known that her two best friends wouldn't understand. Alice, perfect and tiny, had met the love of her life, Jasper, in her first year and they'd been together ever since – which would make it almost four years now. They were probably going to get married, have lots of kids, and stay together forever, because they were perfectly matched. And everyone could see it. Rose, every bit as lovely as Alice, if not more so, was the opposite. She was the heartbreaker in the relationships, and even though everyone knew it, it didn't stop boys throwing themselves at her. She had a trail of shattered hearts behind her. The only one who had ever got close was Emmett. He was exactly what she wanted, and it annoyed her no end.

The truth was, they'd never experienced the pure torture that was getting dumped and having your heart broken.

"I'm tired of it. I'm tired of having my heart broken. I'm tired of thinking that this one might be the one only to have him drag you to a party that a) you didn't want to go to and b) sucked anyway where he downs a bottle of WKD and sticks his tongue down someone else's throat!"

Unfortunately, this wasn't a hypothetical scenario. After even just a month together, Bella thought that maybe this time it would be her chance – her happy ending. But then last week, Mike had done exactly that and went home with that skank Jessica instead of her. She hadn't left her room for three days. It had been worse when she'd gone to school that morning to find Mike and Jessica, apparently attached at the mouth, by her lockers.

That's when Bella came up with the new plan – The No Boyfriend Rule.

"Honey...is this the best way to deal with it?" Alice asked gently.

"Yes! Yes. I've already decided. Boys are just a waste of time. I'm gonna focus on friends, and school, and finding good universities. I don't need a boyfriend," Bella insisted. "I don't want a boyfriend."

"What is the new boy's cute?" Rose pointed out. They had all heard about the new boy. In a small town like theirs, any new residents were a big deal. Tomorrow, the Cullen family was moving in. It was big news.

"It won't matter."

"What if he's super cute and into you?" Alice suggested.

"I won't care."

"What if he's super cute, really into you, and ridiculously rich?"

"It won't make any difference."

"What if he's super cute, really into you, ridiculously rich, and plays an instrument?"

_Damn her for knowing about my band member fantasy_, Bella thought. But replied anyway, "Still no."

"What is he's super cute, really into you, ridiculously rich, plays an instrument and....picked Squirtle as his first Pokémon?"

There was a pause.

"Don't be stupid, Alice. No one is that perfect!" She stood up suddenly. "Want more snacks?"

"You got any Munchies?" Rose asked, examining her empty Minstrels packet.

"Girl, how do you eat so much crap and still stay that thin?" Bella exclaimed.

"It's a gift. Now go get my Munchies."

"Coming right up." As Bella left the room to replenish snacks, she was unaware of the conversation going on in her room.

"I give her two months," Rose stated. "Less if the new boy is cute."

"Give her more credit than that. She's definitely stubborn." Alice answered. "I give her three and a half. Three if the new boys cute."

"Fine. You're on." They must have heard Bella approaching, because their conversation stopped.

"Here's your chocolate," Bella said, throwing the packet at Rose.

"No time for that! Let's see what you're wearing tomorrow." She stood and moved to Bella's closet, pulling out tops and throwing them on the bed.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"Shut up you," Alice ordered. "We have work to do."

The girls stayed for a further two hours while they picked out what they deemed was the perfect outfit. Alice had won in the end, when Bella refused to be seen in the tiny cut off top and skirt that Rose was forcing on her. She bid them goodbye, and sinking on the bed, thought about the super-cute-really-into-her-ridiculously-rich-plays-an-instrument-didn't-chose-Pikachu-as-his-first-Pokemon boy that she wasn't entirely sure existed.

Meanwhile, across town, Edward Cullen was helping his father unpack the last few boxes from the moving truck. He dropped a box of books on his new bedroom floor and headed back out front.

"Is there anything else?" he asked his father.

"Just a few more boxes for my study – medical journals and such. I think your guitar might still be in the car, as well."

"I'll go grab them it then. You ok to move these?" he asked.

"Of course. Go on – go explore the house," Dr Cullen answered.

"Thanks, Dad," he said with a grin. He grabbed his instrument quickly out of the car. Although he'd been to see the house before, he hadn't had the chance to explore it fully, as well as the area. That would probably start tomorrow, when he started his brand new school.

That should be fun.


	2. Meeting The New Kid

**Chapter two.**

**Because I know you're all dying for some Edward...**

**Here you go, m'lovelies.**

When Bella woke up the next morning, she was almost certain that her clock was wrong. Because there was no way that it was 7:43 when she had to be out of the house by eight, at the latest. But after checking on her watch, her phone, and the microwave as she ran past to put a Pop Tart in the toaster, she was forced to admit that she had just over fifteen minutes before the bell.

Forgoing a shower, Bella threw on some clothes and grabbed her bag off her bed, stuffing in a pile of mismatched books and racing down the stairs. Her dad, Charlie, was already gone for the day which left Bella quite free to swear loudly as the Pop Tart popped out of the toaster. She grabbed it quickly and raced out the door into her car.

It was three minutes before the bell went off that Bella pulled in to a parking space, predictably the furthest possible from school, and jumped out. She met Alice waiting for her at the gates.

"Bella – I thought you wouldn't turn up! Where have you -" Alice's eyes widened as she took in Bella's appearance. "What is wrong with your hair girl!"

"What?" Bella said, reaching a hand up to smooth the top. She hadn't had time to do anything special this morning. She'd just thrown it into a ponytail. "What's wrong with it?"

"No. We are not having this." Alice pulled out her hair tie, pulling the hair around her shoulders.

"I was late this morning. Overslept. I didn't really have much time," Bella explained. Alice ignored her, messing with her hair, twirling pieces around and pinning them up with a set of grips that had suddenly appeared in her hand. "Come on Alice. The bells gonna go."

"There, done." Alice said, scrutinising her work. She seemed satisfied, as she grabbed Bella's arm and dragged her off towards the school. "I've got History, so I'll see you in Art?"

"Sure. Bye." She danced off down the corridor, disappearing in to a classroom. The bell rang, loud and clear, signalling that Bella was officially late. She hurried off down the opposite corridor quickly, towards the labs.

"Um – excuse me?" Bella heard someone call from behind her. It was a voice that was impossible to ignore – melodic and manly at the same time. She whirled round.

There, standing in the corridor of her tiny little school, was possibly the most beautiful man in the country. In the world. In the universe. His features looked as though carved from marble by the most skilled of artists – strong and smooth. His eyes glimmered, a shocking emerald. Bella had always been a sucker for green eyes. And his hair – his _hair –_ at first glance looked red, but as he took a few steps forward, hints of gold and brown could be seen in it. It feel in a casual disarray around his face.

At this point, Bella realised that she had been staring open mouthed at him in what was certainly not a flattering look.

"Um, hi." _Wow, _she thought. _This beautiful god like creature and I come up with "Um, hi". _"Can I help you, or something?"

He smiled. She felt her knees melt. "Yeah. I'm trying to get to Mr. Banner's class? In-" He consulted a timetable in front of him. "Lab 9? Do you know where it is? I'm a little lost."

"Um, yeah. I know it." _Will I ever be able to start saying something without 'um'? _"It's my next class actually. I'll take you."

"Great! Thank you!" He closed the gap between them and held out his hand to her. "I'm Edward Cullen."

"Edward," she repeated, dazed. _Damn, the new kid was hot._ She took his hand. It was smooth and warm and fit hers perfectly. "I'm Bella Swan."

"It's nice to meet you, Bella." He smiled at her again. It made her feel all warm inside, like a ridiculous fairy tale.

"You too." She let go of his hand awkwardly, and gestured down the hall. "We should go. We're late, and Banner's a bit of a hard ass."

"Lead the way." She was surprised that she could walk with such knee-meltedness, but she managed. They walked in silence to the lab. Bella pushed open the door and peered inside.

"Swan! You're more than ten minutes late!" Mr. Banner shot at Bella as he saw her, stopping mid lecture in order to turn his full glare at her.

"I'm sorry Sir, I was just -" Bella started, before Edward stepped in to the door behind her. She could possibly have been imagining it, but Bella though she heard a collective gasp through the class at the sight of him.

"It was really my fault, Mr. Banner," he said, smiling in a way that showed off all his perfect white teeth. "I got a little lost, and Bella was just helping me."

Bella blushed as all the eyes in the room turned to her.

"You're Mr. Cullen I take it?" Mr. Banner asked, looking Edward up and down.

"Yes, Sir, I am," he answered.

"Sit down Swan," he directed at Bella who quickly scuttled to her seat. She glanced around the room quickly, realising what she'd thought on the way was true. The seat next to her, which had once been filled by Bree Tanner before she dropped out, was the only empty seat left. Which would mean...

"There's a free seat next to Swan," Mr. Banner announced, handing Edward a few books. "That will be your seat for the year."

"Sure," Edward agreed easily. He crossed the room to the spare seat and slid into the stool. I smiled tentatively. He winked, and I swear I melted.

"We'll be starting a new project today then everyone. As I was saying before -" He shot a half-assed glare at Bella's table. "You'll get to pick your own topic, find participants and gather results. I want a report on it in a few weeks time. Any questions?"

Mike put up his hand.

"Yes, Newton?"

"Do we get to chose our partners?" He looked hopefully over at Jessica who was sitting next to Lauren. She giggled. Bella suppressed the urge to throw up.

"I would suggest you work with your lab partners, Newton. If anyone has any serious complaints, I will take a change in to account. As long as there is a suitable reason." Mr Banner said. "Any other questions?"

"What does the project have to be on?" That was Lauren.

"Anything. Within reason. I want an idea at the start of next lesson. Anything else?"

There were no hands.

"Ok, then. Get started on ideas everyone." The room filled with the bubble of chatter as everyone started discussing. Bella sat nervously, fidgeting with the edge of her folder.

"Well," Edward said, turning to her. "Hello partner!"

* * *

**That's it :]**

**Maybe next chapter over the weekend?**

**See you then, m'lovelies. **


	3. The Conversation

**Back for more?**

**Good. I'm glad.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I do, however own a unicycle.**

Bella Swan was a girl ruled very much by her insecurities. She saw herself as a plain girl; not ugly, but no where near beautiful. If she was asked for her best feature, she would say her long neck inherited from her mother, or perhaps her cupid-bow lips.

She had been sure Edward would want a different partner. Every girl in the room would have been willing to snatch him up – she had already noticed the glares of them scorching her face in their intensity. She was therefore very surprised when Edward asked, "You don't mind being my partner do you? You could swap if you want to – I don't mind. I just, you know, don't really know anyone yet..."

"No!" Bella squeaked. She blushed, sounding desperate to her own ears. "No. It's fine. I don't mind."

"Cool," he said with another smile. They lapsed in to silence, just looking at each other.

Bella cleared her throat awkwardly. "So...the project."

"Yeah. The project." He opened his book to the first page and picked up a pen expectantly. "Any ideas?"

"Um..." Bella desperately searched her mind for a project proposal that didn't sound stupid, but came up blank. "Well, no."

"Well, me either," he said easily, a laugh lurking behind his voice. "So..."

"So...."

"We should probably come up with some ideas."

"Yeah." Bella wished she could control the blush that spread up her cheeks. "That's probably a good idea."

"Well that's one then." He laughed. Bella looked blank. "That's one good idea, I meant. Coming up with the plan to come up with ideas?"

"Oh." She felt like an idiot. "Yeah. Good idea."

"Sorry," he said. "My sense of humour sucks when I get nervous."

"Nervous?" Bella asked. She could not imagine a reason why the god like creature had any reason to be nervous. Ever. At all. "Why are you nervous?"

"Well..." He looked down awkwardly. "New school. First lesson. Sitting with a pretty girl. It's enough to make anyone a little nervous."

He had called her pretty! She blushed again. "You don't sound nervous."

"Well I cover it up well. I had to do a lot of public speaking in my old school. It's good not to look to scared, you know?"

"Were you part of a public speaking team? At your old school?"

"I was head boy, actually. I had to do a lot of assemblies, presentations, proposals. That sort of thing."

"Wow. You must have been the star pupil. I bet you aced your exams." She was talking to him about school, but she didn't care. It was almost a normal conversation.

"I did ok," he said vaguely.

"Ok as in I'm-too-modest-to-admit-I-got-top-grades-in-everything?"

"Maybe a little."

"I knew it!" She laughed, and he did too.

"I bet you were just the same, right?"

"No," Bella smirked. "I barely passed in PE."

"We allow exceptions for PE. You're still allowed in the nerdy crew."

"I'm honoured. When are the meetings?" He laughed. She glowed. She made him laugh.

"Tuesdays and Fridays."

"So there's one tonight? I'll have to check I'm free."

"Do you, um," he started. "wanna meet up tonight to talk about project proposals?"

The first thing that popped in to Bella's head was '_is he asking me out?' _Then she bit her lip in order to stop these same words spilling out.

"Yeah, sure," she said, sounding a lot calmer than she felt. She was sure he would here her traitorous heart hammering in excitement against her chest. "You could come over to mine if you want?"

"That'd be great. My house is still in boxes, or I'd invite you over."

"It's no trouble," she said easily, hoping that her Dad wouldn't mind. "I'll write down the address." She ripped out a page in her notebook and quickly scrawled her address down before handing it to him. He tucked it in to his pocket and offered a smile in thanks.

The bell rang loudly overhead, jerking me back to the fact that we were still in school. I shook my head to clear it as everyone began packing up quickly, talking loudly about their ideas. Edward looked at his still blank page and shrugged.

"We'll work it out tonight. Around five be ok?" I nodded. "See you later, then."

The next lesson I had was Art with Alice. It was on the other side of the school so I had to rush to get there, dodging between the see of people. I was relieved to see the Art department doors in front of me, and pushed through them in to them.

"Bella!" Alice called. "I saved you an easel." I stood next to her and gratefully dumped by stuff on the table. I was exhausted already.

"Welcome to Art, children," Miss Cope, the slightly insane yet well-meaning art teacher, called across the classroom. Today she was wearing a floor length white dress with flowers embroidered in bright coloured threads covering it. She paired it with an apple green blazer. It was, by her standards, fairly normal.

"Today we are continuing with our pencil sketching," she continued. "You may draw anything you wish, as long as it is in the appropriate medium. Coloured pencils can be found in the cupboard at the back of the room. You may start."

Art classes were often like this – a medium, but no topic. In some cases it was infuriating, but it helped Bella to put her feelings down on a page. She flipped to a new page in my sketchpad and selected a few pencils from the pack.

"What're you drawing?" Alice asked, watching Bella as she contemplated her blank page. Alice had already started drawing, a rough outline of an object.

"I don't know," Bella answered. "What do you reckon?"

"I'm doing a portrait."

"Of who?"

"I don't know." She laughed. "My perfect man."

"Good luck with that," Bella said. She loved Alice, but envied her talent. "I'm gonna chose out of my photo book for something."

Bella had created the photo book in her first year. Photography was one of her greatest passions, but she hadn't gotten enough practice. Her Mom had sent her a photo album for one of her birthdays, suggesting that Bella used it for practice. She had, and now had a book of her own photos which she added to whenever she could. She liked to use it for inspiration when she was out of ideas.

"That's a nice one," Alice said, pointing to a picture over Bella's shoulder. It showed an envelope and a set of keys on the edge of a table. It was simple, but somehow memorable.

"I liked that one too," Bella admitted. She set it on the table where she could see it and picked up a pencil, twisting it between her fingers like a baton.

"How are we doing ladies?" Miss Cope asked from behind. She rested her hand on Bella's shoulder.

"I'm drawing my perfect man," Alice stated.

"Perfect, my dear! The best artwork comes when the hand is guided by the heart."

"Thank you, Miss Cope. That's the plan."

"And you Isabella?" she asked. She refused to call Bella by her preferred nickname, stating that Isabella was the name of her child that she had never had. It was creepy, but Bella just went with it.

"I'm thinking of drawing this," Bella said, gesturing to the photograph.

"So simple and yet so beautiful! The perfect picture of home and settlement. Did you take this photo?" Her fingers danced over the protective plastic cover.

"Um, yeah, I did."

"Your talent is wasted here, Isabella. We must do a special project on photography for you, yes?"

"That would be, um, cool. Thanks." Bella didn't know how to answer this proposition. She would be thrilled to have a photography project, but she didn't know whether to take Miss Cope seriously. She, however, seemed satisfied with this answer and drifted over to the next table.

The rest of the double Art session passed sedately. Alice had finished the outline of her face and was working on positioning the features, while Bella had only outlined her objects. They packed away together, and headed towards the cafeteria for lunch.

**Hello!**

**It's only Friday here, so technically I'm early!**

**I hope you liked it. It's based loosely on my own school, since I have no real idea how school systems in America work. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!**

**Love & Stuff,**

**See you next chapter, m'lovelies. **


	4. Lunch Time Confessions

**Hello again.**

**The last chapter was a bit short. This chapter was meant to be included, but it got a bit out of hand, so I separated them. **

**So here it is.**

**:]**

After dropping off their stuff in English, and upon entering the cafeteria, Bella immediately headed towards their usual table, while Alice headed to the line, in order to get lunch. Already at their table was Rosalie, who was poking at a plate of salad while eyeing the pieces of chocolate cake that were on display.

"Hey," Bella said as she dropped down on to the seat next to her. "Alright?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Where's sprite?"

"Here I am!" Alice chirped as she sat down opposite Bella, bearing a tray full of food. She passed Rosalie a piece of chocolate cake. "I sweet talked Bill in to giving me another piece for you."

At Forks High, they had established a "one dessert per person" rule. Bill, however, was infamous for breaking it for pretty girls. With Rose and Alice's looks, we were always getting extra pieces of cake in exchange for batted eyelids and cheeky smiles.

"Alice! I'm on a diet," Rose whined, without taking her eyes of the slice of cake. "I can't eat that."

"Just eat it, bitch. You're the perfect weight. In fact, you're too skinny," Alice stated, passing her a fork now.

"Fine! I'll eat it! God!" Rose pulled the plate towards her, taking a bite and looking as if they'd forced her in to it. Bella didn't know how she could make her and Alice feel guilty for eating chocolate cake, but Rosalie could make it happen.

"I haven't seen the new guy yet," Alice complained. "Have you guys?"

"He's in my French class," Rose replied.

"So what's he like?"

"He seemed alright. Tall. Like six foot or something."

"Is he cute?"

"Alice!" Jasper, who had just appeared behind Alice, said with his voice full of mock offence.

"Oh hush," she said as he sat down behind her. He threw an arm around her waist, and pulled her close to him as to be able to kiss her cheek. Other than a slight pleasurable blush that had appeared on her cheeks, she ignored his actions, and carried on the conversation. "So, is he?"

"Yeah he's pretty cute. Not my type. A bit scrawny." She ate another bite of her cake, pondering. "He's super smart too."

"Oooh," Alice squealed. "He sounds perfect!"

"Alice," Jasper complained again, his voice muffled in her hair.

"You know you're the only man for me, Jazz," she said, and unseen to Jasper, rolled her eyes. "I meant for Bella."

Bella, who had been quiet throughout this exchange, now spoke up.

"For me?" she questioned. Alice and Rose looked at her as if she was stupid.

"Yes, honey, for you," Alice said gently.

"I don't think so," Bella said. One, she had her new rule. Two, even if she did break the rule, there was no way Edward would want her when there were so many beautiful girls he could get.

"Have you seen him yet?" Alice asked.

Before Bella could respond, Rose said, "Here's your chance, sprite. Here he comes."

Everyone at the table turned around to look at the new arrivals. A new class had come in, and Edward was standing among them.

"Oh, Edward." Jasper said. "Yeah, he seems nice."

"You know him too?" Alice demanded. "I hate being the last to know."

"Well, he's in my maths class."

"He's in advanced maths?" Alice exclaimed Jasper cringed. He hated admitting that he was good at, even _enjoyed _ maths. "He must be smart. Do you think he'd be good for Bella, Jazz?"

Bella blushed as Jasper stuttered an answer. "Well um, I mean, I, - he seems, um, nice, yeah."

"I doesn't matter," Bella interrupted. "Because I have a rule."

"He looks a little lost," Alice commented. Edward had now finished getting his lunch, and was looking around the cafeteria for somewhere to sit. "We should invite him to sit with us."

"Um, I don't know if that's –" Bella started. If Edward sat at their table, she didn't think she could eat. Her stomach would be too full – of butterflies.

"Hey, Edward!" Alice shouted across the cafeteria. Half the room turned around, including Edward, as Alice stood up and waved for him to come over. He looked slightly confused, but nevertheless started towards the table. When he saw the rest of the table, _or her perhaps, _Bella thought secretly to herself, _once he had seen her_, his face brightened.

"Hello," he said in a smooth voice as he approached.

"Edward," Rose said. "Sit down."

"Thanks," he said with a smile, that Bella was sure if she was standing, would have melted her knees. He sat down next to Bella, managing to brush his arm against her. Bella swallowed loudly.

"Hi, I'm Alice," Alice stated, throwing her hand towards him. He shook it good naturedly. "And you've already seen Jasper, Rose and Bella." She gestured to each of them in turn.

"Yeah, I remember," he said. And then directed at Bella, "Hello again, partner."

Bella immediately felt the stares of Alice and Rose heating he cheeks. "We got put together as partners in Biology," she explained quickly.

"We're doing a project together," Edward added.

Alice's eyes brightened with what Bella could only assume was a plan.

"How's your first day been?" Jasper asked.

"It's been good, so far. It's smaller than my own school, so I'm sure I'll start to find my way around soon enough." He shot a look at Bella. "It always helps when there are pretty girls to help you find your way."

The look was not missed by Alice and Rose.

"Are we missing something?" she asked, directing the question at Bella.

"I just helped Edward find his way to Biology this morning," she said, cursing the traitorous blush that warmed her cheeks.

"Oh, cool," Alice said. "So what have you got next?"

"I'm in Music right now. Then PE, I think," Edward answered.

"Oh, wow. So does Bella," Rose commented. "Maybe she can show you the way."

"Yeah," Edward answered, glancing sideways at Bella. "That'd be nice."

"So what instrument do you play?" Alice prompted.

"My granddad was very musical, so he taught me a lot. I play piano and guitar the most."

Bella's breath caught in her throat. He was cute, and played guitar.

The bell rang loudly, breaking up the conversation.

Jasper checked his watch. "We got get back to class." This was met by much grumbling and scraping as everyone got out of their chairs. Bella felt Edward's arm brush up against hers as they stood.

"Bye, baby," Jasper said to Alice as he pulled her towards her. They hugged each other tightly. "I'll miss you."

"I'll see you tonight," Alice told him, standing on her tiptoes to peck him on the lips as they pulled apart. "I'll miss you too."

Bella watched her best friend and her boyfriend with a strange tug in her stomach.

"I'll see you later then, Bella?" Edward asked. She tore her eyes away from Alice and Jasper to look at him.

"Um, yeah, later," Bella answered.

"I'll look forward to it," he said, and with a wave, made his way through the crowd towards the exit.

Although Alice may have been occupied, Rose had not missed the exchange. "He likes you Bella," she said knowledgably.

"I sound like an idiot whenever he comes in the vicinity of me," Bella murmured sadly.

"He doesn't seem to mind," she said.

"Come on. He's gorgeous."

"And so are you." Alice had detached herself from Jasper, and now took Bella's arm in hers. Rose took her other arm, and the girls filed out behind the rest of the students.

"You wanna meet up tonight?" Rose asked as they sat down in their seats.

"Can't," Bella said.

"Silence, please!" Mrs Trickett called from the front of the class. "Now take out your books. We're going to be looking at the major themes today."

An hour later, Bella said goodbye to Rose and Alice and made her to the gym for PE. The sight of Edward in gym shorts might just make it bearable.

**Just so you know, I'm a sucker for a guitar player. **

**There you go m'lovelies.**

**Come back soon. **


	5. Let's Play

**Hello m'lovelies.**

**It's Friday…and that means a new chapter. :]**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or its characters. I do, however, own a magnetic poetry set.**

"Line up, everyone!" the teacher shouted across the gym as everyone filed in. They all shuffled obediently together, shuffling up occasionally to allow people to stand by their friends. When they were all settled, the teacher continued. "We're going to be doing badminton today. I need a few volunteers to get the nets out. Eric, Ben, Mike, give me a hand. The rest of you partner up and grab a court each."

Bella felt a sense of dread settle in her stomach. Usually, she partnered with Mike, but she had an inkling that wasn't going to happen. Jessica was already hanging over Mike as he battled with the equipment. She glanced around the room hopefully, looking for someone to partner up with.

"Angela!" Bella called. "Hey, Angela?"

"Yeah?" Angela answered, turning around to smile at Bella. "Are you ok?"

"Do you wanna, um, be partners?"

"Oh," Angela answered with a small blush rising up her cheeks. "Ben kinda already asked me."

"That's fine," Bella said, smiling. She and Alice had been trying to get Ben and Angela together since forever. She would happily forfeit a partner for the chance of them bonding. "Have fun with Ben." She winked, causing Angela to blush again.

"Well I'm not really one for walks on the beach, but I could make a good partner," a voice behind Bella said. She twirled around quickly, to come face to face with a bashful looking Edward. A bashful looking Edward in shorts.

"What?" Bella said, still looking at his toned, tanned legs.

"God, that was cheesy," he mumbled embarrassedly. He seemed to be blushing, but as he looked down at his feet, Bella couldn't see much of his face.

"It was kind of cheesy," Bella agreed. Edward looked up at her then with a timid smile.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, anyway. I was wondering if you would mind being my partner? For tennis?"

"Well, that would be great. But we're doing badminton today."

"Oh…right." Bella pondered if Edward's blush might just be the cutest in the world. "Well, we could be partners for that, too?"

"It's a deal." The smiled at each other. "Shall I get the stuff, and you can get the court?"

"Oh no, I'll get the stuff. You go get the court. I'll be right back." Before Bella could argue, he hurried off to the equipment. Bella wondered idly towards one of the courts on the far end. Jessica and Lauren were giggling together while Mike and Eric showed off. She walked past them to the far end of the gym. Angela and Ben were already playing, throwing timid shots and even more timid smiles to each other.

"Hey there. I picked you the pretty pink one," Edward said as he approached, handing her a bright pink racquet. Bella had never been much a fan of pink, but appreciated the sentiment either way.

"Thanks, Edward. Do you want to start then?"

"Yeah. Um, Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to let you know I'm not sure if I can make it tonight after all. It's our second night…I think my parents wanted to explore or something. I'm sorry."

Bella felt a weight of disappointment in her stomach, but didn't let it show on her face, as she calmly said, "That's fine. Whenever you want to come over is fine."

"I'm sorry. I was just…in case you wanted to make plans, or something."

"Yeah, thanks." She shuffled awkwardly. "Shall we play?"

Edward nodded, and they took their places either side of the net. The lesson passed quickly, with minimal conversation between them. Bella didn't run, instead letting the shuttlecock fall where it was, to avoid the humiliation of tripping and revealing her clumsiness.

"Have you got a cock?" Bella asked, having just shot the last of their shuttlecocks to the other side of the room in an enthusiastic serve.

"What?" Edward stuttered, his eyes widening. Bella, having realised what she said, clapped her hand to her mouth.

"Oh, God. That's not what I meant – I mean that is what I meant – but I meant a shuttlecock. Shut up, Bella. Do you have a shuttlecock?"

Edward chucked her a shuttlecock across the net. "I do, actually."

"So do I," someone said. Bella's head snapped up to the side of the court, where she saw, to her horror, Mike leaning casually. He smirked at her. "It's rather impressive too. Of course, you already know that, don't you Bella?"

Bella was blushing so hard that she was sure they would have to invent a new shade of red just to describe it. She looked anywhere but at Edward. Mike had made her sound like such a _slag_. It was true Bella was not a virgin, but to announce it so casually in front of a practical stranger!

"Piss off Mike," she mumbled, still trying not to look at Edward. Edward however did not hear her; he was too busy trying to fight off the urge to punch Mike in the face.

"Aww, Bella, baby." Mike pushed off the wall and slunk towards Bella. He put his arm over her shoulder, pulling her towards him. "Play nice."

"I don't want to play," she said. "Get off me."

"That's not what you were saying last week."

"Shut up. Get off me, Mike." She tried to shrug him off, but he hung on to her.

"I think you should step away from her," Edward said. It was a quiet, deadly voice that sent shivers up Bella's spine. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing deeply as if trying to control himself.

"Calm down, man," Mike said. "She likes it. Don't you honey?"

Edward made a sudden move of his hand, as if restraining himself. Bella struggled to move away from him again by ducking underneath his arm, but he grabbed her wrist. She tried to rip it from his grip, almost tripping herself over.

"Ok, everyone, that's the end!" the teacher called. Everyone began to stop, surging towards the equipment store or the changing room.

"Later babes," Mike said, leaning close to Bella's ear. She resisted shuddering as she felt his breath rush against her cheek. Mike slunk off towards the changing rooms.

Bella stole a quick glance at Edward, who was still standing in the same place, his breathing still deep and even. She glanced down at her feet again. He must hate her now – now that she'd been labelled as a slut.

"Bye, Edward," she said softly as she scuttled past him.

He shot out his hand to stop her. "Your wrist."

"What?" Bella asked, her hand unconsciously going to hold her wrist. It was red from where Mike had grabbed her.

He opened his eyes to look at her. "He hurt you."

"It's fine," Bella said automatically. "It's nothing, actually."

"Can I look at it?" he asked. Bella hesitated, unwilling to make a big deal out of it. He must have taken it as doubt, because he smirked and added, "My Dad's a doctor. You pick stuff up."

"It's nothing," Bella repeated.

"Humour me."

Bella held out her hand to him and he examined it. The cold smoothness of his skin felt good against the angry red mark.

"It seems alright," he assessed. "Just a little sore, right?" Bella nodded. "You might want to put something on it, make sure it doesn't swell."

"Alright. Thank you, Edward." She gently pulled her arm back from him. "Bye." She began to walk towards the changing room, when Edward's voice stopped her.

"Bella!" he called. She turned around. He sighed. "Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," she repeated. It fell like a promise from her lips. She smiled once more, and disappeared behind the door.

Edward stared after her. "Tomorrow," he repeated.

There was one good thing about PE as the final session. Bella didn't worry about her hair or make-up, just pulling her clothes on automatically and stuffing her kit in her bag. She forced her mind away from Mike, not allowing herself to think about it, and it found its way to Edward.

She was still thinking about him as she drove home. The way that he'd looked at her wrist, so carefully, so delicately, as if she was made of glass. He didn't seem to hate her, she didn't seem to repulse him. The look in his eyes was…caring. But that was probably just what he was like with everyone. He was probably nice to everyone.

She wasn't special.

When she arrived at home, she found it empty. Charlie was obviously still at work. She ambled up the stairs to her room and pulled on some more comfortable clothes. She had no where to go, and no work to do. She sighed. _Might as well settle down with a cup of tea and a book, _she thought.

She grabbed _The Great Gatsby_, her current reading material, and poured herself some hot chocolate in to her favourite mug. It had been given to her by her grandmother one birthday, before she passed, and claimed 'I wuv you' across the front of it. It was cracked and faded, but she would never give it up.

It must have been around an hour before Bella was distracted – by a knock on the door. Strange. The door was unlocked, so Charlie could get in, and they hardly ever had visitors. Maybe it was Billy or Harry, looking for Charlie.

She put down her book with a sigh and went to the door. It wasn't Billy or Harry.

It was Edward.

**Well there we have it.**

**I bet you saw that coming.**

**Mike is such a slime. But I've always had a soft spot for Ben.**

**See you next week, maybe. **


	6. What's For Dinner?

**Hello, dearests.**

**I'm late, I'm late, I know. **

**How are you honeys?**

**Good, I do hope.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. However, I do own a green iPod name Howard. **

Bella looked at Edward. Edward looked at Bella. His eyes slid down her body as he took in what she was wearing. Bella glanced down too at her clothes – her grey sweats, red JLS hoodie, stripy socks and fluffy slippers. _Fluffy slippers. _She was standing in front of Edward Cullen, wearing fluffy slippers.

"Hi," he said, quirking an eyebrow. Bella blushed deeply.

"Um, hi," Bella replied.

"Are you busy or anything?" Edward asked. "I don't want to interrupt anything…"

"No," Bella assured him. "I'm not busy."

"Oh, cool." Edward's smile momentarily dazzled Bella, before she remembered her good manners.

"Oh! Come on in." Bella stood to the side to usher him inside. Edward stepped in gratefully from the cold outside and followed Bella to the front room. "Do you want a drink, or food, or anything? I was gonna put dinner on."

"You haven't eaten yet?" Edward asked instead.

"Um, not yet," Bella said, glancing at the clock. It was almost seven o'clock.

A frown line appeared on his forehead. "You need to eat, Bella."

"I…I just lost track of time," Bella answered, looking guiltily at her feet.

"You hardly ate anything at lunch," he admonished her. "You need to eat."

"Sorry. I'll go put something in." Bella glanced up at him. His eyes were soft despite his reprimanding tone, and the slight frown line was still in his forehead. Bella wanted to lean up and wipe it from his skin. She swallowed. "Would you like something? I have some lasagne left…"

The frown disappeared from his forehead and his eyes lit up with a childish glee. "I love lasagne."

Bella smiled and beckoned him towards the kitchen. He followed happily, and took a seat at the kitchen table while Bella busied herself about warming up the lasagne.

Once it was in the oven, Bella turned to Edward. He was glancing around the kitchen with interest. Bella followed his gaze to the fridge. On the front, attached by magnets, was a poem that Bella had written at the age of ten. Bella had entered it in to a contest and it had been chosen to be published in a collection of student's work. Charlie had been proud enough to put it on the fridge door, in a fit of traditional parenting. As embarrassing at it was, Bella hadn't had the heart to tell him that the sentiment was a little outdated.

"So," Bella started to direct his attention away.

His eyes slid towards her and they locked gazes. "So."

"Lasagne, huh?" Bella mentally cringed at her words. She was so completely social inept.

"Yeah, lasagne."

"You seemed pretty happy about that."

"Well, it's my favourite." Edward smiled, big and wide. "My grandmother used to make the best lasagne I've ever tasted. She always got the perfect pasta meat ratio. It was great. We had it every time we went over."

"Sounds pretty magical."

"Yeah. Most kids want pizza for their birthday dinners. I always asked for lasagne."

The oven pinged behind them. "I'm not sure I should give you some. I can't live up to that kind of hype."

Edward chuckled as Bella divided the lasagne on to plates. "Don't worry. I haven't had good lasagne in ages."

Bella placed the plate in front of him and sat opposite him. Edward continued talking without prompting.

"She died when I was around twelve. Mom's tried to make lasagne, but she can never get it right. Bless her."

"I'm sorry."

Edward smiled a slow, sad smile. Bella pushed a fork towards and waited with baited breath. _Breathe, Bella _she thought to herself _why do you care if he likes your stupid lasagne so much?_

Edward seemed to cut a piece and bring it to his mouth with exaggerated slowness.

"Well?" Bella asked impatiently.

He waited a few more moments before answering, chewing thoughtfully. "It's good." He took another bite. "It's really good."

"Better than your grandmother's?"

"No one can beat that. Sorry." He smiled. "But it's almost as good."

"Maybe your young mind just exaggerated the taste," Bella suggested jokingly.

"Maybe," he said. "But I can safely say this is at least the second best lasagne I've ever tasted."

"That's good to know." Bella smiled to herself. "Maybe I'll make it for you again some time. If you're a good boy."

He winked. "I'll be on my best behaviour then."

When both of their plates were empty, and Bella had cleared them up, they moved in to the front room.

"What are you reading?" Edward asked, picking up the book that was still abandoned on the coffee table.

The phone rang before Bella could answer. She reached over and picked it up, mouthing sorry to Edward.

"Hello?" Bella said in to the phone.

"Bells?" Charlie said on the other end. "Hi, honey. I'm sorry it's so late."

"Its fine, dad," she said, curling her legs underneath her. "What's the hold up?"

"Had some trouble up at the stores. Break in, it looks like."

"A break in?"

"Yeah. Some smashed windows, some stuffs gone. No one's hurt though."

"That's something, then. Will you be home soon?"

"Yeah, should be about half an hour."

"Ok, sure thing." Bella glanced at Edward, who was reading the first page of her book. "Um, Dad?"

"What did you do, Bells?"

"Nothing!" Bella said in a mock hurt tone. "I've got a…friend over. We're working on a project. Is that alright?"

Bella caught Edward looking up at her with an amused expression out of the corner of her eye.

"That's fine, honey. Have you eaten?"

"Yeah. We left you some lasagne."

"He's lucky we did," Edward mouthed. Bella smothered a laugh.

"Thanks, Bells. I'll see you soon. Have fun."

"Thanks, Dad. See you soon."

"Love you, kid." The phone clicked off and Bella placed it back on the hook.

"So, The Great Gatsby?" Edward asked, holding up the book.

"Yeah. I'm reading the Top 100 Books."

Edward cocked his head to the side. "Really."

Bella nodded, but didn't say anything else.

"How are you liking it?"

"It's ok, I guess. I'm not sure I get his fascination with Daisy."

"They're in love," Edward said.

"But still. She's moved on."

"That doesn't stop him loving her."

"I don't get it."

"Then you've never been in love."

Bella shrugged.

"I'm sorry," Edward said. "That was kind of harsh."

Bella shrugged again. "It's true. I haven't. It's not a big deal."

"Right." Edward looked uncomfortable and cast around for another topic. He tried to keep the thought of Mike and what he'd said out of his head. Had it just been a line, to make him seem more of a man?

"How's your wrist?"

"Fine," Bella said automatically. Her hand moved unconsciously towards it, smoothing across the area. It was slightly sore, and red to look at, but wasn't causing her any particular pain, unless she knocked it.

"Did you put ice on it?" Edward asked.

Bella felt a surge of guilt and shook her head slightly.

"Let me see it."

Bella glared at him in defiance.

"Bella…"

"It's perfectly fine, thank you, Edward. There's no need." She tugged her sleeve more securely over her wrist. Edward noticed her involuntary wince as her hand caught it slightly roughly.

"Could I please check it, Bella?" He held out his hand towards her. "Please?"

He pulled out the puppy-dog eyes.

"That's not fair," Bella mumbled as she extended her wrist towards him.

"Hmm," Edward said, examining it. "It looks a little swollen. Does it hurt if I press here?"

His cold hands felt good against her skin. She shook her head.

"What about here?" he asked, pushing against the side of her wrist. Bella tried to suppress a wince.

"No," she answered.

"Bella."

"Fine, a little."

"We'll need to put something cold on it."

Bella ignored the part of her mind that rejoiced when the word 'we' fell from his lips. "Alright then," Bella responded. She drew her arm back from him and wandered towards the kitchen again. She pulled out an ice pack and handed it to Edward.

"Ice packs. I'm impressed." Bella shot him a glance as her pressed the ice pack against her skin. "No one else I know has a ready supply of ice packs in their freezer."

"I'm clumsy," Bella explained.

"Well, so are a lot of people –"

"No," Bella interrupted. "I'm full-on accident prone. I'm a danger magnet." She looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. "We probably won't get much work done now, but we can try."

"Sorry. My fault."

"Don't worry about it." Bella glanced up at him, rolling the question she wanted to ask over in her head. Edward looked at her, an amused smile playing on his lips. "Go on. Ask."

"Ask what?"

"Your eyes are all inquisitive." Bella immediately looked down.

"You're good at reading people," Bella observed.

"Usually," he said cryptically. "What did you wanna know?"

"I was just wondering…why you're here. I thought you had plans."

"Is that all?" Edward chuckled softly. "Yeah, I did. My dad basically pushed me out of the door when I told him that I had planned to come here. He said he didn't mind. So…here I am."

"Oh, right." Bella had imagined his plans with his parents to be a cover up for a date, or something. It seemed like he really did have plans with his parents. How cute.

"Exciting life, right?" Edward rubbed the back of his neck. They sat in an awkward silence.

"Do you wanna try and get some work done then?" Bella asked.

"Yes. Work. Right."

"I'll go get my stuff." Edward nodded, as Bella retreated towards the stairs. She refrained from changing, thinking he'd already seen the worst of it. She did, however, pull a hairbrush through her hair a few times and wiping the mascara smudges from under her eyes. She bent to gather her books from her bag when –

"Bells!" Charlie called out. "You here?"

Bella cringed, thinking of Edward alone downstairs. She just grabbed her bag and rocketed down the stairs.

"Dad!" she called. He wasn't in the hall, or the living room, so that must mean…

"In the kitchen, Bells," he called. She gulped and followed his voice.

Edward was stood up, facing Charlie, who was still in his full cop uniform, complete with gun.

"Dad," Bella started, moving between them. "This is Edward."

**There you go.**

**See you again. **


	7. That's It!

**Sorry, sorry, sorry.**

**I've had a lot to do lately – emotion rollercoaster and all that.**

**Thanks to my readers – I never thought I'd get any alerts. You guys are all kinds of amazing. **

**But here's your update!**

"Edward Cullen, Sir," Edward said, standing up and holding his hand out to Charlie. Charlie took it, shaking it firmly, while maintaining eye contact with Edward. It may have been Bella's imagination that Charlie's hand twitched towards his gun.

"Dr. Cullen's son?" Charlie grunted.

"Yes, sir."

"Edward moved here a couple of days ago," Bella supplied.

"Met your folks today. Nice people." Charlie released Edward's hand. "What are you kids up to?"

"Studying. We're partners for Biology." Bella shuffled uncomfortably. "I told you I had a friend over?"

"Right. Nice to meet you Edward." Charlie broke eye contact with Edward and turned to Bella. "I'll be watching the game, Bells."

"No problem." Bella breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how her Dad would react to finding a boy in the house, even if the reasons were as innocent as a group project. It could have been much worse. "I'll bring you some lasagne."

"Thanks, honey." Charlie ambled off to the other room and a moment later they heard the low mumbling of the TV.

"So, that was your Dad."

"Yeah. Sorry about that – I didn't mean to just, you know, drop you in it."

"He looked kind of surprised."

"I guess."

"Doesn't he often come home to find boys in the house?"

Bella blushed. "Not really."

"I find that hard to believe."

Bella blushed harder. She stared at her feet, knowing she'd blush even harder if she looked at him.

"I, um, better go do the lasagne." Bella pulled out the remaining lasagne, putting some onto a plate.

"It's getting late," Edward said. "I should probably go."

Bella glanced at the clock and was surprised to find that it was almost nine o'clock. "Wow, it is late." She put the lasagne in the oven. "I'll walk you out."

Bella walked Edward to the door quietly. It was Edward who broke the silence as he stood outside the door. The moon was out, big and bright, but Bella spared little thought to it – her attention was focused on the way that the moonlight made Edward's skin silver, and his eyes twinkle.

"It would seem we're destined not to get any work done tonight," Edward commented.

"I guess not," Bella said.

"Maybe we could try some other time?"

Bella hoped that the darkness covered her blush. "Yeah. I could go for that."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, then?"

"Yes. Biology."

Edward smiled at her. "I'll look forward to it." With that, Edward raised his hand in farewell and retreated towards the shiny silver Volvo at the end of the drive.

"Me too," Bella whispered to herself.

Charlie was still in front room watching TV when Bella handed him his plate of lasagne. Bella picked up _The Great Gatsby _from where it still sat on the side. It seemed like weeks ago when she had sat down on the sofa, settling in for the night.

"I didn't know you had a guy round, Bells," Charlie said gruffly.

"We're partners on a project, Dad."

"I know, honey." His eyes were still focused on the TV. Charlie had always had trouble with emotions. It was a trait that Bella had inherited from him. "I trust you, Bells."

Bella was unsure of what to say, but settled for, "Thanks, Dad. Love you."

Bella didn't think she'd ever look forward to a day at school, but she had to admit that she was. She was practically skipping in to school, arriving even before Alice.

"Hey Alice!" she called happily as she saw the tiny girl glide towards her.

"Hey," she replied, smiling. "You're early today."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are. This couldn't be anything to do with –"

"Look! It's Rose!" Bella interrupted, pointing towards her, and effectively ignoring Alice.

"Hmmph."

"Hey, bitches," Rose greeted. "What's up?"

"Bella is in love with her lab partner," Alice blurted.

"Alice!"

"What?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"I can't believe you just said that," Bella complained. "That is so _not _true."

"But it _so _is."

"Wait," Rose interjected. "Edward is your lab partner, right?"

"Yes," Alice supplied.

"Well he's a cutie, Bella," she commented. "But what about The Rule?"

Before Bella could reply, someone appeared next to her. Emmett. He was huge, easily the biggest person she had ever seen, but was really quite a sweetie. Oh, and he completely and utterly adored Rosalie.

"I heard someone say cutie," he said, by way of greeting. "Were you talking about me?" He slid his arm around Rose's shoulders, but she shook it off.

"No, Mr. Ego. We weren't talking about you." The bell rang overhead, loud and piercing.

"We better get going," Bella said, trying for casual.

"Someone sounds a bit excited for Biology." Alice shot a sideways glance at Bella. "I wonder why that is."

Bella ignored her comments as she shot off towards the door. Alice followed behind her, glancing around. After a few moments, Jasper joined her, linking his hand in hers. Rose followed them with Emmett tagging after them.

"I'll see you later," Bella called over her shoulder to them.

"Bye, babes! Go get him!" Rose yelled back. Bella was glad that they couldn't see her blush.

She tried to calm herself down before entering the lab by taking some deep breaths at the door. Lauren gave her a scathing look as she passed. Bella followed her inside. She ignored the small flip in her stomach as she saw Edward was already sitting there. If possible, he looked even better today. He was wearing a dark grey shirt that clung to every muscle and emphasised the paleness of his skin. His hair was in its usual disarray. As Bella scooted past his chair, she ignored the electricity that passed between them when their arms brushed.

She'd been ignoring a lot lately.

"Good morning, Bella."

"Good morning."

"So, we didn't really get round to discussing an idea last night," he started. "So I looked through syllabus. There's lots of stuff on plants. We could do something about mitosis and meiosis."

"That sounds…fun."

"You're right. It sucks."

"Good morning, class!" Mr Banner announced. Bella reluctantly turned away from Edward to listen. "It seems very few of you have come up with an idea for your project." Bella lowered her head guiltily. "I've drawn up a list of suggested topics, coming from the syllabus. There're some very interesting topics for you." Bella could have sworn she heard Edward chuckle quietly beside her. "However, if you prefer not to use any of these, you can choose your own topic."

He produced a pile of papers from his desk and handed them to the front table. "Pass them around now, Downing. Now – other students in the past have taken a more psychological route as opposed to a strictly biological approach. That's fine too.

"I'm going to give you until the start of next week to put together your ideas. I want a question and hypothesis," he continued. "Ok guys. Carry on."

The pile of papers came to Bella and she took one of the top, passing the pile to Edward. They both sat quietly and studied their lists.

"Well, those topics are all crap," Edward declared. "Unless – I mean - did you want to do any of those?"

"Um, no. They're all pretty terrible."

"Well, then, we'll have to think of something else."

Bella bit her lip unconsciously. She'd always wanted to take psychology but it wasn't offered at her tiny school of Forks High. Maybe this would be her chance?

"Um, if you wanted, we could maybe do a psychology kind of thing?" Bella suggested. She paused before adding, "I've always wanted to do psychology."

"Really? How come you didn't?" he asked.

"They don't offer it here."

"Well, we'll get your psychology in here then," Edward stated. Bella was secretly delighted that he had liked her suggestion. "Any particular subject?"

"I don't really know that much about it."

Edward looked thoughtful for a moment. "I had a friend who did psychology at my old school. She used to talk about it all the time." Bella felt a strange pang in her stomach at 'she'. "She said perception was a really interesting subject."

"Perception sounds great!" Bella said excitedly. "Unless you want to do something else?"

"No! No, perception sounds cool." Edward smiled at her, and Bella felt a smile lighting up her own face.

The moment, however, was broken by Mr. Banner. "Well…Swan and Cullen. How are we getting on? Any ideas yet?"

"We were considering doing something on perception." Bella supplied.

"Perception. Yes…interesting topic. What specifically would you be looking in to?"

"Maybe age differences," Edward suggested.

"Or gender differences," Bella countered.

"Or both," Edward finished.

"Well, you two seem sorted." Mr. Banner nodded in a satisfied way. "Carry on."

As he left, Edward winked at Bella. "That went well."

"We seem to have our topic."

"Yeah." Edward moved his hand to the back of his neck. "I'm home alone tonight. Considering we seemed to have been destined not to work yesterday, do you want to try again tonight?"

"That sounds – Shit. Is it Wednesday?"

"Yeah," Edward said, looking at her curiously.

"It's girls' night. I'm sorry! I can't bail."

"Girls' night?" Edward asked, an amused look on his face.

"Um, yeah. It's tradition. Every Wednesday, me, Alice and Rose get together and do something, while Jasper is hanging with Emmett. It's like couples night off," Bella clarified.

"Girls' night. Ok. Well we can arrange something tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. Just can't do Wednesdays."

"Have any other crazy traditions I should know about?"

Bella was saved from telling Edward about once a month Saturday sleepovers by the bell.

"Saved by the bell," Edward laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Bella liked the sound of that.

**So they've got their topic. **

**I might try for a double update this week?**

**Reviews make me feel better. 3**


	8. Girls' Night In

**Here's the update of the week. **

**Thank you to all my readers.**

**:]**

**As always, Twilight is not mine. **

**

* * *

**

"About time!" Alice greeted me as she opened the door and ushered me inside.

"I'm only about two minutes late, Alice."

"Well me and Rose have been waiting for ten minutes for your ass to get here." She shut the door behind me. "Which makes you late."

"Well I'm here now."

"Mom and Dad are out. We're upstairs."

Alice's Mom and Dad were always out. They both had high paying jobs that kept them at work until ungodly hours. We never really saw them, so Wednesday nights were often at Alice's house. Her room was huge. Rose had already claimed the sofa, her legs dangling over the end while she painted her nails a blood red colour. I set myself down on the floor, leaning against Alice's bed.

"I ordered the pizzas and I've gotten Love Actually to watch," Alice stated.

"Love Actually is a Christmas film," Rose complained.

"Don't care. It's always good!" Alice smiled. "So how was Biology Bella?"

Bella was sure she'd gotten whiplash from the quick change of topic. "It was fine, thanks."

"Hmmm, fine, was it?"

"Yes, fine."

"This is boring now. Just admit that you like him, Bella," Rose said bluntly.

They were both staring at her. "Fine!" she shouted. "I may find him possibly a little bit cute."

"Well from what I've heard… He's super cute, right?" Bella nodded her head in agreement. "The house is huge – so he must be ridiculously rich, too."

"And he plays more than one instrument," Rose added.

"And after tonight we will be able to confirm if he is really into you," Alice concluded.

"Wait, how?" Bella asked.

"Well – Jasper invited him to boys' night."

"Oh God." No good could come of this.

"Relax – I told them to behave."

"Like that'll help," Bella mumbled. Rose and Alice once again ignored her.

Alice stood up, clapping her hands and looking like a small child on Christmas morning. "Right – Girls' Night has officially begun! Ladies – choose your colours." She gestured towards the pile of nail varnishes beside her. Rose laughed while Bella pulled herself up. She selected a deep blue and Alice picked up a bubblegum pink.

Bella loved Girls' Nights – She loved being able to pamper herself, gossip freely, act girly – But tonight she couldn't get the idea of Edward Cullen and the possibility he might just be talking about _her_.

* * *

"So, she's hot, right?" Emmett asked. They were all sat on the sofas in Jasper's game room. Edward felt slightly awkward, to say the least. And then Emmett had to go and ask that. Now, Emmett was staring at him. Jasper was, however, looking at Emmett with a slightly disgusted look on his face. "What's that face for, man?"

"Dude! She's like my sister!" Jasper complained.

"But she has a nice ass man."

"Ew," Jasper said. "That's like incest." He wrinkled his nose like there was a bad smell. "Anyway, you have Rose."

Edward was bought out of his thoughts of Bella by this. "Really? You and Rose?"

Emmett grinned cheekily. "Well, not officially. But I'm working on it."

"And has been for the last year or so," Jasper supplied.

"Have you seen that girl? She's like a frickin' angel or something!" Emmett said. "It's not my fault!"

"We're getting off the point here," Jasper pointed out. "Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Bella. You like her. Yes or no?"

"Like her? Are we 13 again?"

"Answer the question."

Edward sighed. "Yes, I like her."

"Yeah, Eddie, man!" Emmett shouted. Edward cringed at the name. "Go get her."

Edward shuffled uncomfortably, his hand unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck. He could trust these guys, right?"

"Spit it out," Jasper said.

"It's just – I – Idon'tthinkshelikesme."

"What?"

"I don't think she likes me," he said, more clearly.

Jasper and Emmett looked stunned for a moment. They knew of course that Bella liked Edward. Alice had told them. But she'd also told them not to tell Edward straight out.

"Well, we'll have to see," Jasper said.

Edward rubbed his neck again. "Do you guys know her well? Could you help me…win her over?"

Emmett clapped him on the shoulder. "Oh, Edward, Edward. We have so much to teach you."

* * *

"Your work should be coming close to an end now," Miss Cope called across the room. "We'll be starting a new section on Monday."

"Bella, pass me the yellow?" Alice asked. Bella located a tube of yellow and passed it to her.

"Are you almost done?" Bella asked, surveying her own half finished painting. She still had to paint the keys and add extra detail to the envelope.

"Pretty much." She twirled her easel round so that Bella could see it.

"Alice, that's just a picture of Jasper."

Alice laughed, all wind chimes and sunshine. "The best artwork comes when the hand is guided by the heart."

"Exactly, my dear!" Miss Cope exclaimed from behind them as she passed. Bella rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Alice said. "Speaking of Jasper, I have news."

"Did he pop the question?" Bella asked, squirting some colours on to her palette.

Alice didn't say anything. "What?" Bella asked. Alice's eyes were big and round. "Alice?"

"Is he going to propose?"

"Alice! You're seventeen!"

"That's old enough…"

"God, Alice! No, he's not going to propose. It was a joke." Bella sighed. "Tell me the real news."

Alice held up her hands. "Edward likes you."

Bella's first instinct was to squeal like a thirteen year old girl that had just seen Taylor Lautner take his top off for the first time, but then she realised that she was in fact in the middle of an art lesson.

"Oh, cool."

"Bella Swan. You have found out your dream guy likes you. Show some enthusiasm."

Bella had talked to Edward just this morning in Biology. They were making good progress on their project already and had started to pick out some optical illusions together. He hadn't seemed any different.

"Dream guy? Pfft." Bella wouldn't admit to even Alice that it was probably more accurate than she thought. There was definitely a pair of emerald green eyes starring in her dream last night.

* * *

"Here's what you have to do," Emmett started. "Be forward. Don't back down. Just go for it."

Edward was standing between Emmett and Jasper. They had both agreed to help Edward get Bella's attention, but had very different ways of doing it.

"Bella won't like that Emmett! She's a romantic," Jasper explained. "Buy her chocolates. Give her flowers. Make her mixtapes."

"Mixtapes? Are we living in High Fidelity?" Emmett complained. "Just watch me!"

He strode off towards the girls who were grouped around a table together.

"This'll be fun," Jasper murmured. Then louder, "Come on Edward."

Emmet sat down next to Rosalie, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulder and pull her close to him. Jasper and Edward sat down in the remaining seats.

"Hey, babe," Emmett said to Rosalie. Her eyes narrowed slightly in a way that Bella and Alice knew as annoyance.

"Emmett," Rosalie said in a sugary sweet voice. She leaned in to him, resting her cheek against his shoulder so she could speak in to his ear. They watched as she put her lips to his ear.

"Don't," she whispered. "Call me babe." Then she stood, pushing Emmett out of the way. He stumbled back with a shocked look on his face as she stalked off.

Alice sighed and said something quietly to Bella, which was responded to by Bella shaking her head slightly. Then, Bella got up and followed Rosalie.

"Well, that worked," Jasper said, his voice shaking with laughter.

"It's better than your crappy mixtape idea!"

"Mixtapes?" Alice said. "Bella would love that." Jasper shot Emmett an 'I-told-you-so' look. Then looked at Edward expectantly.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you gonna do it?"

"Isn't it a bit…premature for mixtapes?"

"Do you wanna win the girl's heart or not, Edward Cullen?" Alice demanded.

"Um, yeah, I guess. Yes. Yes, I do," he stuttered. Alice could be terrifying for a small person.

"Then make her a goddamn mix tape."

"Yes, ma'am." He saluted her across the table. "What kind of music does she like?"

"Oh, no," Alice said. "Now you're on your own." She stood up, pulling Jasper along by the hand. "Come on, Jazzy."

They left, leaving Emmett and Edward alone.

"Don't ask me," Emmett said. "I haven't got a fucking clue about girls."

* * *

**There you go.**

**Exciting times approaching?**

**Insecureward is pretty cute. **


End file.
